Aaron Judge’s seventh-inning homer Tuesday night wasn’t the kind of playoff drama that evergreen video clips are made of, the ones that play repeatedly every single year on their anniversary, the ones that kids of a certain age have memorized, right down to the play-by-play patter.
Game-wise, it simply padded a Yankee lead in what was ultimately a 6-3 victory over the Guardians in Game 2 of the ALCS. But it was an enormous swing, nonetheless, one that could reverberate through whatever the Yankees accomplish in this postseason.
Maybe this is just coming from an overheated October imagination, but it was like everyone, all 47,054 in attendance at Yankee Stadium, exhaled afterward. Maybe in the jubilant Yankee dugout, too. Judge, his postseason woes a matter of public record, had finally hit a home run in these playoffs.
“It’s a big swing for Judgie,” Anthony Rizzo said. “A real easy swing. He’s the best in the business at that.”
If he’s been activated now, what or who, exactly, is stopping the Yanks? They are ahead in the ALCS, two games to none, with the series heading to Cleveland for Thursday’s Game 3. With Judge just 2-for-15 with one RBI in the postseason entering Tuesday night, they had lost just once all October. With zero thunder from the man who hit 58 home runs this year.
Look out if he’s going to start swinging with this kind of authority – a team that has played well, but maybe not brilliantly will be unmanageable.
Judge whacked a fastball from Hunter Gaddis that sizzled into the upper part of the strike zone, sending a high, arcing shot 414 feet toward right-center. It was struck 111.3 miles per hour, according to Statcast. Judge said he felt gratified that it flew out on a windy, chilly night – 52 degrees at game time – and he joked that “the ghosts were pulling it out.”
Judge does love the concept of Yankee Stadium spirits.
“I was happy to add a couple of runs,” he added. Doubtless the spirits were happy, too.
Judge’s homer made it 6-2 and was a neat capper to a game that included – get this – an intentional walk to Juan Soto in the second inning so that Cleveland could pitch to Judge with the bases loaded. It was a fair strategy, setting up a potential double play and giving the Guardians the chance to bring in one of their best relievers, righty Cade Smith, to face Judge.
And, well, 2-for-15 works out to a .133 average. Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt probably knows a thing or two about the pressure and scrutiny Judge faces as one of the biggest names in the game on the most famous team. Maybe the ploy worked out for both – Judge hit a sac fly for his second RBI of the postseason and Vogt gets to say the combo of Soto and Judge didn’t do more damage than that in what could’ve been a bonanza inning.
While Rizzo said, “I’m personally probably not doing that,” Judge termed the move “not really a surprise” and quipped “I’d walk him, too,” about Soto. He also said he didn’t take it personally – there’s no Mark Vientos-mimicking coming from Judge, people.
The home run was the 14th of Judge’s postseason career, snapping a tie with Giancarlo Stanton for fifth place among Yankees. The names ahead of him on the list are pretty amazing: Bernie Williams (22 homers), Derek Jeter (20), Mickey Mantle (18) and Babe Ruth (15).
Great spot to be, but there’s also this about Judge’s playoff hitting – he took a .206 lifetime average into Tuesday’s game. He’s disappeared for long stretches in series. Let’s not revisit the nightmarish 2022 ALCS against the Astros, OK?
Yes, he’s taken walks in these playoffs – kudos to him for not blowing up his personal strike zone to try to chase unhittable balls in hopes of nailing one. But the Yanks need the damage, too.
And they keep expecting it, regardless of whatever’s transpired in past Octobers. “It’s always a matter of time with Aaron,” Aaron Boone noted.
In October, though, there’s more urgency, since the end can come much quicker than during the slog of a 162-game regular season.
“It’s just about taking every moment and trying to do what you can with it,” Judge said. “It’s about having a short memory.
“Just like (in Game 2) come up, they walk the guy in front of you, you’ve just got to go up there and treat this moment like it’s the only moment that you’ve got and do what you can with it. If you don’t get the job done, pass it on to the next guy to pick you up.
“Just don’t make any moment too big, man. It’s still the same game we play and we’ve been playing our whole life. So that’s how I try to treat it.”
Sounds like a guy in the right mind space to hit one of those evergreen home runs, one that everyone remembers forever. Who knows? Maybe that one’s coming later this month.
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